The Mother
by Scottish-Dragon
Summary: A series of one shots where the Ted, Lily, Marshall, Barney or Robin meet the mother. Disclaimer- I do not own How I Met Your Mother
1. Meeting Up

_Ted was sitting at the train station, waiting for a train to Chicago. His friends were there a minute ago and they all made a deal. To meet at the bar, at their booth in one year. Robin and Barney were going on their honeymoon and then coming back to New York and getting settled in. Lily decided that she did not want to go to Italy and decided to become a High School Art teacher while Marshall worked as a judge. Ted was moving to Chicago, he needed a break. He needed to get out of New York and his friends understood that, but he did not need to know that Barney bought his home, under a false name. For when he comes back. _

_Ted boarded the train that just pulled in and took the window seat at the only two seats left. A few minutes later, the bassist from the wedding sat beside him. _

_"Hello, my name is Tracy" smiled the bassist.  
__"Ted" nodded Ted.  
__"Ted, say, like T-Dog" smiled Tracy.  
"You were in that class I walked into" moaned Ted and Tracy giggled.  
"Yes, for some weird reason I haven't stopped thinking about you since" shrugged Tracy.  
"Wow" nodded Ted, smiling.  
"What are you doing when you get back?" asked Tracy, just making polite conversation.  
"Moving to Chicago" admitted Ted, he did not know why but he wanted to tell Tracy everything.  
"Cool, well, I have to find a place to live because my horrible ex decided that he would become a stalker, he wants me back" Tracy rolled her eyes.  
"Well, my flat in Chicago has a spare room, if you want to..." Ted quietened as he realised he was inviting a stranger into his home to stay.  
"That would be awesome, a break is what I need" smiled Tracy.  
"So we are moving in together" Ted nodded, Tracy smiled.  
"Don't you think this relationship is moving to fast" she joked and they both laughed. _

A year later, Ted sat in the bar. He was waiting for his friends to arrive. He knew the four of them were in contact in the past year, as they live close to one another but he had a year free of them. He wanted a break, and they knew that, so why was he so nervous?

Oh, yeah, the wedding is next month. He smiled at Tracy, who was performing on the stage. She smiled and carried on singing.

The door opened and the first person he saw was Marshall. He looked around the bar and saw Ted, just sitting there and watching him.

"Ted!" he yelled and ran over to the man, and grabbed him into a bear hug. Over his shoulder, Ted could see a pregnant Lily, Robin and Barney.

"Ted!" they called and dragged the man over to their booth.

"So, how have you guys been?" asked Ted, he saw Tracy watch him out the corner of his eyes and he smiled slightly.

"Well, I can't talk to Robin, but I have taken to marriage really well" smiled Barney. Robin hit him.

"We have both taken to marriage really well, we fit like two pieces of a puzzle" smiled Robin, "thank you Ted for bring us together."

"And, well we are expecting another baby, a girl called Willow this time" smiled Lily and she patted her stomach.

"And, being a Judge is awesome, I seen many cases from divorce to murder" smiled Marshall.

Tracy got off the stage and headed to the bar, she shook her head at him and he pulled a sad face, his face mistaking his look.

"Oh, Ted, we are so sorry if we have been boastful about our lives, if your plan for a break hasn't worked out" said Robin and Ted laughed, slightly scaring the others.

"My life is perfect" he smiled.

"Perfect?" asked Barney. Everyone shared a look. Ted saw Tracy get handed two glasses of scotch.

"Yeah, perfect" and Ted smiled.

"What's happened?" asked Lily.

"I'm engaged" said Ted, and he saw Tracy giggle at their reactions, their mouths had dropped.

"You met a woman in Chicago?" asked Marshall.

"No, on the train to get to the airport. We were talking and suddenly I invited her to move with me and she agreed" said Ted.

"When's the wedding?" asked Lily.

"Next month, and she has agreed on you two being bridesmaids, and you two will be my best men" smiled Ted.

"Can we met her? Or is she still in Chicago?" asked Robin.

"Actually..." said Ted and the others leaned in but jumped when a woman dropped onto his lap.

"We really need to stop meeting like this" said Tracy as she dropped into his lap.

"Like what?" asked Ted. She raised his scotch to his lips and poured it down his throat before quickly doing the same to herself.

"Like, I dunno, just like. I perform and there you are, sitting at the bar, all alone and checking me out" smiled Tracy.

"Ted?" asked Lily, her eyes light up in delight at the sight of Tracy.

"Guys, this is Tracy. Future Mrs Mosby" smiled Ted and Tracy nodded her head.

"So, how did you guys meet?" asked Barney.

"At your wedding. As she said, she was performing and I couldn't seem to stop myself from staring at her but I knew I was leaving New York so I saw no point in a relationship but she got on the same train as me and we got talking and she moved in" said Ted as he hugged Tracy closer to herself.

"After a week, we stared going out, and last month Ted surprised me by organising an entire wedding" smiled Tracy as she leaned into Ted.

"And do you want to know the best thing?" asked Ted, they all leaned forward, nodding.

"I haven't slept with Barney" winked Tracy.


	2. Interview

Robin, Barney, Lily and Marshall arrived at the airport to catch a plane to Chicago. Tomorrow was Ted's birthday and they were going to surprise him.

Even though they had to look up online and found out where he was living before going.

The group boarded the plane and were actually very excited to see their friend after months of no talking.

They got off the plane and walked over to taxi and passed him the address and they were off.

They were nearly there. They were so excited, they paid the driver, got out and walked up to the door of a very small, nice looking house where their friend apparently stayed.

Lily was the one to knock. And they waited.

And a woman answered.

"Hi" smiled the woman as she stared at the four of them.

"I'm sorry if we have the wrong house, we're here looking for a Ted Mosby" said Lily and the woman nodded.

"You don't have the wrong house, Ted's here" smiled the woman, "you can come in if you want."

The four of them entered and looked around, they found themselves in a living room, pictures of Ted and the woman everywhere, apart from one with Lily, Marshall, Robin and Barney.

"You have a nice place" said Lily as she looked around.

"Thanks" said the woman. She started to bite her lip and look around.

"How do you know Ted?" asked Robin.

"I'm his girlfriend" admitted the woman.

"Oh, what's your name?" asked Robin.

"Tracy" smiled the woman.

"Would you like to know our names?" asked Barney.

"I already know them, I was the bassist at your wedding. That's actually how I met Ted" smiled Tracy just as the man himself walked into the room.

"Guys, what are you doing here?" he asked, looking from his friends to his girlfriends.

"We thought we would surprise you by coming to see you on your birthday" said Lily.

"Right" said Ted, slowly nodding.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Tracy and she went up to him and felt his forehead.

"Fine" said Ted but Tracy clicked her tongue.

"Nope, mister, you are burning up" she said and pushed Ted onto a nearby sofa.

"I'm telling the truth, I feel fine" argued Ted while his girlfriend directed his friends onto another sofa.

"I know, I just wanted an excuse to have you sitting down and talking to your friends while I go and get the spare rooms ready for them" smiled Tracy and she left.

There was an awkward silence before Robin started to talk.

"So, she seems nice" she commented and Ted smiled.

"Yeah, she's brilliant" said Ted, then he got sight of what was the faces of his friends.

"You can quiz her if you want, I don't mind" smiled Ted. He got up and went to get them something to drink.

He was taking forever that Tracy came back downstairs.

"Hey, where's Ted?" she asked, dropping a washing basket onto the table.

"He went to get a drink" said Lily.

"Okay" said Tracy and she stared to fold washing in front of them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've always done washing in here, it's a bit of a habit" said Tracy and she carried on with what she was doing, folding some of Ted's boxers.

"Did Ted move in with you or ...?" asked Robin.

"No, we met on the train from your wedding and he invited me to move in, I said I needed a break" said Tracy, smiling at them.

"So, you met on the way back from the wedding? What did you talk about?" asked Lily.

"It's private but we were laughing as we stepped of the train" chuckled Tracy.

"Any plans for children?" asked Marshall.

"A boy called Luke and a girl called Leia" smiled Tracy.

"What is your favourite movie?"

"Star Wars."

"What happened on your first date?"

"I told Ted I loved him, and he picked me up, twirled me around and told me I was the perfect woman" smiled Tracy.


	3. Dance

Lily, Marshall and Ted were watching the first dance between the newly weds - Barney and Robin.

"The couple would like to invite others up to join in on their first dance" said the DJ they had hired in case the band performing got tired.

Lily dragged Marshall up, leaving Ted to watch their drinks. He shook his head, left the drinks and went and stood at another area of the room. From where he stood, Ted saw his friends sit back down at the table, look around for him but not see him before getting back to their conversation.

"Hello, my name is Tracy and I was wondering if you want to dance?" I turned to face the voice and saw the most beautiful woman ever.

"Sure, my name is Ted."

* * *

"Hey, guys, found Ted" said Barney and the four of them turned to look at Ted talking the bassist from the band.

"Is he actually talking to a woman?" asked Marshall. They all snorted but kept watching as the girl drag Ted onto the dance, and they started to badly dance.

"I swear to god, there are as bad as each other" said Lily as she watched them crash into each other, but laugh about it.

After an half hour of watching them, Lily, Barney, Robin and Marshall followed them as they ran outside, hiding behind a plant as they spied on the pair.

"So, Ted, what do you do for a living?" asked the girl, as she sat down on the balcony, crossing her legs.

"I'm a professor" smiled Ted as he leaned on his arms and stared ahead.

"I know, you walked into my class and introduced yourself as T-Dog" smiled the girl.

"Oh, you remember that, Tracy, you made my heart swell" joked Ted and Tracy laughed. The group kept watching.

"Best part of my education, I'll have you know" smiled Tracy.

"What do you do?" asked Ted.

"I'm a bassist, but for a carer I work as a children's author" smiled Tracy.

"That's awesome" smiled Ted, he looked at her sideways and smiled back at her.

"So kids?" asked Tracy.

"Oh my, aren't we moving quickly?" joked Ted and Tracy laughed again.

"Yeah, well. We'll say it together to save ourselves the embarrassment. How many and names? Yeah?" said Tracy.

"Deal" said Ted and they both took a breath.

"One boy, one girl. Luke and Leia" they said and looked at each other. The group had their mouths open.

"Favourite film?" asked Ted.

"Star wars" they said.

"Favourite book?" asked Tracy.

" Love in the Time of Cholera" they said and they both smiled.

"Do you think she's the one?" asked Marshall in a whisper as they watched the pair.

"I think I love you" said Tracy and she pulled Ted into a kiss.

"Yes" replied Lily, Robin and Barney and they slowly walked back into the party. Lily and Robin already planning shopping trips with Tracy.


	4. Hey Have You Met Ted

"Hey, have you met Ted?" Robin asked the bassist for the band at her wedding.

"No, I can't say that I have" said Tracy, smiling.

"Well, c'mon you need to met my husband and friends" said Robin, she grabbed Tracy in a rather hard grip and dragged her to Barney.

"Barney, this is Tracy, Tracy, Barney" said Robin.

"Hello" said Barney, looking at Robin confused.

"Tracy wants to play Have You Met Ted" said Robin.

"I do?" asked Tracy. They ignored her.

"Really, hey Tracy, what do you regret?" asked Barney.

"I once told someone I loved them on the first date" shrugged Tracy, believing the groom and bride to have lost it.

"We need Lily and Marshall" said Barney and he took Tracy's other side and took her to Lily and Marshall, who were tickling their baby Marvin.

"Hey, Lils, we are going to play Have You Met Ted" said Barney, super excited.

"You know Ted won't like that" said Lily, not taking her eyes of Marvin. Marshall looked up.

"Who's that?" he asked, Lily looked up.

"This is Tracy, she wants to play Have You Met Ted" said Robin.

"Who's Ted?" asked Tracy. They ignored her.

"Ted won't like that, you know he would hate you for it" said Lily, lifting Marvin onto her hip.

"She's the one" said Barney.

"I thought I met the one once, he married my best friend at the time" muttered Tracy. She looked to see everyone staring at her.

"Let's go" said Lily and she took the to where Ted sat, drinking.

"Tracy, wait here" ordered Barney.

"What makes you think I won't just run away?" asked Tracy.

"You want to meet the one" said Robin. Tracy thought for a moment, them shrugged.

The two couples approached the single friend, Barney wrapped his arm around Ted's neck.

"What do you want?" Ted asked. Tracy thought she had never heard anything nicer.

"We are playing a game" said Robin, patting his arm. Ted glared at her.

"What kind of game?" Ted asked.

Barney and Robin made him stand up, Lily took his drink and Marshall stood behind him. Tracy saw him go tense.

"We are playing Hey Have You Met Ted."

Marshall spun Ted around before Ted could speak again. Ted landed in Tracy's arms.

"This is awkward" said Ted, staring into Tracy's eyes.

"Not really, hi, I'm Tracy" smiled Tracy.

"Ted."

"I guessed as much."


	5. Perfect Guy

Barney and his new wife, Robin were sitting at the table with Lily and Marshal at their wedding reception. Their other friend, Ted, was babysitting baby Marvin so the couples could spend time together.

At the table next to them sat the band, who were taking a break so a CD was playing in the background.

"So, Tracy, what is it you want in a guy? It's just everyone guy you've gone out with hasn't met your standards and everyone is talking" said the lead singer to her bassist.  
"It's hard to find the perfect guy, you might as well as give up" said the keyboardist. Tracy shook her head.  
"I have to believe that there is someone out there, the perfect man" said Tracy.  
"Answer my question then" said the singer.  
"No, I want to discuss something first" said the electric guitar player.  
"What?" asked the group.  
"The Wedding Bride, Tracy is an idiot when it comes to that movie."  
"It's a stupid movie with a stupid plot" said Tracy.

The group at the next table leaned in to listen, they had nothing better to do, everything but the bouquet throwing and cake cutting had been done and there was still an hour before they planned to do that. And someone other than Ted thought the Wedding Bride was a stupid movie! They had to hear this.

"Oh, Trace, why do you think this is a stupid movie?" asked the drummer with a grin.  
"The poor Jed Mosly was left at the alter. The teacher was a jerk. Pulling her away from a man like that at his wedding. It's horrible. If she didn't love the man, she should've gained balls and dumped him, no matter the consequence. And I swear, they say Ted Moseby a few times, you know that Professor who came into our classroom that one time" said Tracy. Now the group were really listening.

"Thanks to Professor Moseby, she is know ... actually, Trace, tell them your idea of a perfect guy" said the drummer. They had obviously heard it a lot, but they love making fun of her.

"Well, he's a architect, or teaches about them. He loves Star Wars just as much as I love Star Wars. He wants a boy called Luke and a girl called Leia. He would love a woman who plays bass and paints. He'll lead a crazy life and tells me he loves me as soon as he sees me and ... who the hell are you?" Tracy was looking at Barney as he had slipped his seat to be right next to her.

"I'm Barney, I'm the groom and I want to ask you something" said Barney.  
"Well, what do you want to ask? Do you want another song?" asked Tracy.  
"Have you met Ted?"


End file.
